CITY OF FRESNO
Office of Council President Mike Karbassi
WH EREAS, Tim Sheehan is a lifelong resident of the San Joaquin Valley, growing up in Madera and graduating from Madera High School. He later graduated from Fresno City College with an Associate of Arts degree in liberal arts and from California State University, Fresno, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. After almost 30 years out of school, Tim returned to the classroom in 2011 and graduated from Fresno Pacific University in 2013 with a Master of Arts degree in leadership studies; and
WH EREAS, Tim’s full-time journalism career began in 1986 as the editor of a small weekly newspaper in the Caruthers/Easton/Riverdale area before joining The Selma Enterprise and Kingsburg Recorder newspapers in 1988, first as a reporter and becoming the editor in 1991; and
WH EREAS, Tim joined The Fresno Bee in February 1998 as editor of its weekly Neighbors newspaper section and served as editor of The Bee’s South Valley Bureau in Visalia from 2001 through 2003. He returned to reporting in 2003 and over the past 22 years has covered business, High Speed Rail, and a range of other issues and beats, including data reporting, local government and the Fresno City Council; and
WH EREAS, over the course of his career, Tim’s work has been recognized with numerous state and national journalism awards for coverage of breaking and enterprise news, features, sports, technology, environmental issues, and local government; editorial writing; page design; and news and sports photography. His coverage of California’s High-Speed Rail program since 2010 included a 2011 reporting trip to Spain to produce a series of stories and accompanying video about that country’s bullet-train system and has also been recognized with state journalism awards; and
WH EREAS, since 2017, Tim has also been an adjunct instructor with the State Center Community College District, teaching introductory journalism classes at Fresno City College and Clovis Community College; and upper -division journalism and media classes at Fresno Pacific University; and
WH EREAS, Tim has been a journalist in the central San Joaquin Valley for almost 40 years, and after 27 years with the Fresno Bee, starting in late February 2025, he will continue his journalism career by joining the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative as the organization’s first Health Reporting Fellow. In this position, funded by grants from Fresno State’s Institute for Media and Public Trust and other organizations, Tim will cover a wide range of issues including disparities in access and av ailability of health care for disadvantaged communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley; and
WH EREAS, Tim has been married to his wife, Linda Pryce-Sheehan since 1985 and will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in May of 2025. Their family has at various times included several Dachshund dogs, and their current fur baby is a miniature “wiener dog” named Ozzy.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, Mayor Jerry Dyer and the Fresno City Council, congratulate Tim Sheehan on his award-winning journalism career.
“Tim Sheehan”
in the City of Fresno.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hands and
affixed the seal of the City of Fresno, California, this 13 th
day of February 2025.
_____________________________________________
JERRY P. DYER, Honorable Mayor
_____________________________________________ __________________________________________ MIKE KARBASSI, Council President MIGUEL ARIAS, Council Vice President
_____________________________________________ __________________________________________ ANNALISA PEREA, Councilmember District 1 TYLER MAXWELL, Councilmember District 4
_____________________________________________ __________________________________________ NICK RICHARDSON, Councilmember District 6 NELSON ESPARZA, Councilmember District 7